Blue
by Atrusa Solaris
Summary: One of 2D's five children is tired of getting bullied at school. But when she decides to embark on a trip to Essex without her siblings, she finds that there is more to everything, including herself, than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Gorillaz. And yes, it has been confirmed our darling Stuart Pot has at least 5 kids running around Eastbourne...

Summary: One of 2D's children is tired getting bullied at school about her hair. So she decides to embark on a trip to Essex but finds not all is what she'd expected.

Blue: Chapter one

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Rebecca Pot shifted uncomfortably in her school uniform while staring up at the heavy wood school doors as the wind threatened to blow her skirt up and display her knickers to the world. Her siblings, well technically half siblings, had already gone inside. She had been the one that had been running late and hadn't been able to walk to school with them. As a result she had grabbed a beanie and threw her hair up underneath and covered her eyebrows with the edge. Being the second youngest of the Pot children, she was often the one who got called the crybaby of the family and too concerned with her appearance. The others proudly displayed their blue hair and didn't give a damn.

Half of her fifteen year old brain told her to suck it up and go inside while the other half told her to run to her grandpa's fairgrounds and hide out in the fun house again. She couldn't afford to miss another day of school, both her mother and Frank made it clear. Oh Frank. Her stepfather never really treated her nicely. She knew it was because of he bright blue hair that plagued her and her siblings. Oh how she had attempted to dye it black once while she was in Essex with the assistance of Noodle, but it ended up turning a darker shade of purple, much to the dismay of her mother and utter bewilderment of her father and disgust of Frank. Her other half siblings from Frank never got that look. Jen and Tiffany were his perfect angels. She was merely the result of a drunken one night stand with a ditzy lead singer of an internationally acclaimed band along with her four siblings.

Yes, that had been the latest ridicule she had faced when her classmates found out exactly how the Pot children had come to exist. That and their hair. Strangely enough, none of her other siblings got too terribly teased about their hair. Occasionally they would, but it was a few people in her class that were particularly vicious towards her. It was like they had giant sensors that picked up on the fact that she hated her hair, her boobs and her situation and there was nothing she could do about it.

Nope, Cecilia got picked on for being a ditz and a klutz and Chelsea never really got picked on. More like idolized by the boys in school for her looks, but with that also came the vicious rumors from the other jealous girls. She miserably thought about how guys called Chelsea hot while she got called top heavy. Oh the downsides of having large boobs.

Lucas never got picked on. Period. Nope, he had made it loud and clear he wasn't going to take it by taking Uncle Murdoc's advice and gave a royal beat down to the boys that were giving him trouble. Uncle Murdoc had told her to use her wit against them, but she could never think of anything to say and when she did, a teacher always seemed to be around. Her younger brother James had transferred another school and they never really saw him too much anymore. That and not reaching the cutoff date for their year. He had been at their school and her tormentors had tormented him first, then Lucas and turned on her as soon as Lucas beat them up. She had been fine with her appearance until they had started in on her.

She walked up the steps to the school and reached out her hand to the huge pewter door handle. Back to the name calling, having her belongings stolen, having her hair pulled and the headmaster commenting on how she should really try to not create such a ruckus along with her siblings. It had been the second she got into chorus, everything would be better. She could sing her little heart out and no one cared what she looked like. But lately, one of her biggest tormentors had switched into chorus and had started in about how horrible her voice was in addition to being a blue haired freak. She subconsciously pulled her beanie cap lower around her ears.

She felt at home in the huge, newly rebuilt Kong studios. Whether it was listening to Dad play his melodica, watching Uncle Russel disembowel a raccoon or a visit from Uncle Muds or even visiting Noodle in the dojo in town. But unfortunately, they always stayed two days and their father only got them every other month. The rest of the time, he came to them in Eastbourne where they would all have dinner at their grandparents house.

A thought struck her. Fuck Eastbourne. Hello Essex! She grinned what her grandmother called the infamous Pot grin. After all, she had enough saved up to go on a trip to Essex. Things sucked here, why not go visit Dad? With that, she withdrew her shaking hand from the cold handle, turned on her heel and took off back towards home to pack a bag and take her savings.

"Becca! OI! Becca!" She heard a voice behind her. She turned and looked. She saw Hubert running behind her, wheezing and out of breath, his heavy breathing taking the form of fog in the cold air. He doubled over, his blazer jacket in hand, glasses sliding down his nose, shivering only in his cotton shirt.

"What?"

"Where you going? I saw you through the front door in the way to the loo." He wheezed.

"Not to school." Why on earth did she have to run into Hubert? He was friends with all the Pot clan. Unfortunately, he was rather annoying and would probably mouth off to Lucas who would then call his mum who would call Dad and bitch about him seeing his other children over her child and he would call her mum and it wouldn't end well for her with Frank.

"Well where are you going then?"

"None of your business."

"I want to come with you."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going away somewhere."

"Where?"

"None of your business!"

"Well, I'm up for an adventure!" He answered defiantly as he adjusted his glasses.

She glanced around. He wasn't going to shut up unless she took him, but she could be charged with kidnapping.

"You can't come with me and you cannot say anything to Lucas or Chelsea or even Lia!"

"Promise!"

"I'm going to Essex."

"Why are you going to Essex?"

"I'm going to visit my Dad."

"I don't think your brothers and sisters wouldn't like that too much. Besides I want to go."

"What about your parents?"

"They're out of town for the week and weekend. I can catch the train back before they get home. Now, wait til school's out to go."

"No! I'm leaving this afternoon while Mum and Frank are at work! Why do you want to go anyways?"

"Eastbourne bores me terribly." He sighed. "I want a proper adventure that doesn't involve breaking into your grandfather's fairground with people."

"You were part of that?" Rebecca snarled. A few weeks prior, a group of people had broken into the fairgrounds and graffitied quite a few rides.

"Er, no. I was invited though." He stuttered quickly.

She turned and started to walk away from him and he quickly snatched the beanie from her head, causing her hair to whip around in the wind. She fought to get the hair out of her mouth while flailing at Hubert for her hat back.

"Give it!" She jumped as he held it high above her head. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself with her hair.

"No. Take me with you and I will." He grinned amusedly as she tried furiously to get it back.

"Fine!" She finally gave in, almost on the verge of tears from frustration. He was delaying her and increasing her chances of getting caught with every second he wasted.

He promptly dropped the grey hat into her hand. She threw her hair back up into the hat and tugged it back down over her neck and eyebrows.

"Meet me at the station as soon as you can. If you don't make it before the next train, you're shit out of luck!" She turned and ran off as fast as she could. Yes, freedom was so close, she could almost taste it. 'Nope, wait, that was a hair.' she thought as she fished in her mouth to pull it out.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Do not own Gorillaz

Blue. Chapter 2

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Rebecca quickly worked the lock on the backdoor. She shivered slightly as it began to drizzle and the cold metal seemed to go down to the bone while the ancient wooden steps seemed to groan under her weight in the dampness. Lock picking was one of the few thing her father taught her how to do incase any of them got locked out of their houses. She had to smile at the memory of him hunched over the lock to the studio, teaching them all individually how to pick a basic lock. She remembered the look of pride when she was the first one to get it.

She heard the lock click softly and she pushed open the door before pocketing the pick and vigorously rubbing her hands on her skirt. She raced up the stairs to her room. Tiffany and Jen shared the larger bedroom while she got the smaller one in the back of the house. She figured it was understandable since they were twins after all and needed more room. She dug in the closet and found the duffel bag before throwing open the set of drawers and began throwing in underwear, shirts, pants, socks and anything else she could fit before moving on the throwing in her toiletries. She looked down and realized it would be rather stupid to try and go in her uniform. As she stripped down to her cam while she slightly shivered in the cool house before pulling on the first jumper she could get her hands on. She left on her wool tights and threw on a pair of pants over them. Rebecca glanced over at the corner where the guitar stood innocently.

Rebecca zipped up the bag and threw it over her shoulder, testing the weight and whether or not she'd be able to handle the weight of the guitar along with the bag. She took it off, unzipped it and began emptying out things she wouldn't need. She figured she could live without five pairs of jeans and quickly began to lighten her load.

She looked beside her as her phone lit up.

'Cming with. don't leave w/o me."

She cringed. She really couldn't believe he was coming. Why was he coming? He didn't know anybody in Essex. Then again he was mildly socially awkward and didn't really have many friends other than the Pot tribe, what with the name Hubert and everything. He was Lucas's year, one ahead of them.

'Then get to the station.'

Rebecca stuffed the phone into her pocket and quickly placed the guitar into it's hard case, slung the bag over her shoulder. She got halfway out the room before stopping.

"Money."

She took off the bag and put down the case before hurrying back and moving a chair into the closet. She moved aside the basketball, the field hockey stick and box of summer clothes on the top shelf before finding the vent and she pulled it out to find the cigar box. She pulled it out and opened it and began counting.

For the past five years she had hoarded her allowance money, dipping into it only for emergency cash. And how difficult it had been hiding it from her two sisters. They were nosy as ever. Constantly digging through her things. Twice they had found the stash and taken the money. She had immediately gone to her mother and twice had gotten back about half of it since they had already spent most of it.

But now, she grinned. She had over three hundred pounds. More than enough to get there and back eventually, various expenses along the way, et cetera. She slammed the lid shut and shoved it in the bag. She paused as she remembered the story Russel told her about the time he had his bag stolen as a teen with all his money in it. She quickly took half and shoved it in the guitar case before locking it again. She looked around, making sure she had everything she needed. When she seemed satisfied, she hesitated. Maybe she at least leave a note? Er…Nah, they should be good.

As she left, she checked the mirror and made sure her hair wasn't showing. Nope. Last thing she needed was to be spotted and noticed because of her stupid hair.

It was always embarrassing when they got a new teacher. They would stand there and pull whichever Pot child out or even stand in front of the class and ask them why they were breaking dress code rules and if they thought they were special which was usually the point when another student or teacher would pass by and explain it was natural. She remembered one physical education teacher had been particularly adamant towards James until James finally snapped and pulled off his shirt before shoving an armpit into his face. He had served two weeks detention for that one.

Fortunately, most of the teachers believed them once they saw the set of them together and found out who their father was. But it was still pretty annoying when little old ladies stopped them and started prattling on about young people these days and how they neglected the looks God intended them to have by dying their hair weird colors.

But now, hopefully, Essex would be a big enough place for no one to notice or care. She had to laugh out loud as she ran and thought of the utter joy of not being stared at pointedly when she was out with her siblings or alone. She barely noticed her feet pounding on the cold concrete as she caught the bus for the station.

"Rebecca?"

Busted.

She looked up to see Cecelia's doleful brown eyes looking up at her. Cecelia patted the seat next to her and Rebecca took a seat on the hard plastic.

"Why aren't you in class?"

"I could ask you the same fing." Out of all the Pot children, everyone had to agree Cecelia was probably the most like their father in speech and mannerism. It was like looking at a female, teenage version of Dad sometimes which was rather creepy. "And why do you have all your stuff wit chu? You going somewhere then?"

"Er, I'm going on a short holiday. What are you doing out of school?"

Cecelia was silent, stabbing a spoon into a cup of parfait before tucking a stand of her choppy hair behind her ear.

"Going to Granda's. I'm not very good at this whole school fing." She muttered.

"Me neither."

"Yes you are. You're smart, you're just not very confident. And when I mean not very I mean, you have none wotsoever. I'm not very smart as you've already figured out."

"But you're not stupid either…You just...um…" Rebecca searched for the right words to say as her older sister stared at her expectantly. The bus hit a bump and the migraine medication rattled in Cecelia's purse.

"Exactly. Now, step one of confidence. Being proud of who you are." Cecelia whipped off the hat and sat on it.

"Lia! Give it!" Rebecca whined.

"Nope!"

"Lia! I need it! I'm skipping town and can't be identified!"

"Did you kill someone then?" Cecelia leaned in, looking excited. "Like in one of those cop movies on the telly?"

"Er…no?" Rebecca was a bit thrown off.

"Oh. That's no fun." Cecelia began stabbing at the parfait again before finally eating some. "So where are you going then?"

"You have to keep a secret."

Cecelia's eyes widened.

"Hubert hasn't gotten you 'in trouble' has he?" She hissed.

"OH MY LORD NO YOU SICK WOMAN!" Rebecca recoiled and caused other passengers to stare at the pair.

"Just asking. He fancies you. You know that right? Oh, wait. That was 'posed to be a secret too…Sorry." She grinned apologetically.

"Somewhere. I'm going somewhere. Right now, I'm going to the train station."

"Somewhere sounds nice." Cecelia smiled serenely. "You should send me a postcard when you find Somewhere."

"Maybe."

"You know, running away doesn't solve much."

"So that's why you're going to the fairgrounds?"

"That's different. I'm a lost cause." She continued to smile as she finished off the parfait and began digging through her bag and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"No you're not."

"Yeah, I am. I hear Mum and Dad talk. Not our Dad, Harry. They talk about tutoring, different options, my future. They're worried and frustrated." Cecelia stated, smile still in place. "They think it's their fault. So I'm dropping out."

"But, what about your future?"

"Damon already told me he would try and help get a demo recorded next time he's at Kong. Nice bloke, he is. Dunno why Uncle Muds don't like him…"

"Does Uncle Muds have any kids? I can't remember…"

"Um…he's married, I 'member that." Cecelia pulled a face of concentration.

"He is?"

"Yeah, 'member? We met her once. I fink you were too little to 'member. Dunno if he has kids though. If he does, we never met 'em."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Why?"

"No reason."

"Ok then. Well, this is your stop then. G'luck finding Somewhere." Cecelia gave a small wave. "Be careful."

"I will." She reassured her as she made to get off the bus.

"Good. Have a nice time in Essex."

"Wait what?" Rebecca hesitated in the door before someone shoved her off.

"Bye!" Cecelia waved furiously.


	3. Chapter 3

Blue Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Gorillaz.

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Rebecca tried to fall asleep, but it was rather with the motion of the train and Hubert not shutting up.

She had been rather surprised to see that he had beat her to the platform. He was surprised to see her without a hat. He had then given her a white flower hair clip saying he found it in the cab he took and asked if she wanted it. It was only after he turned away to look down the rails did she notice the price tag on it.

"He fancies you. You know that right?" Lia's voice echoed in her head. She eyed him. Sure, he was kind of cute in a dorky kind of way, but… Wait, this was HUBERT. The same kid who would often randomly launch into rants about physics and logic and some sci-fi movie he saw over the weekend without provocation.

It was a long few hours. The night had fallen as they stepped off the platform.

"What now?" Hubert turned to her.

"We can't go to Kong tonight."

"Why not?"

"Zombies are out."

"There are no such thing as zombies." Hubert started. "It's medically impossible." She could feel him getting warmed up about a rant.

"Trust me. They're real." She snapped while she racked her brain for places to stay. Dad had never really introduced them to many of his friends. Then she remembered Noodle tended to live above the dojo unless they were recording, during which she took up residence in the haunted studio. "Alright follow me."

They quickly hailed a cab.

"Where to?" The cabbie grunted.

"Do you know where Marilee Jackson's Café is?"

"Yeah. Marilee's dead though. Some bitch named Victoria runs it now."

"I know. Can you take us there?" She asked, a bit impatient as her stomach ripped out a growl of 'FEED ME.'

"Yeah."

Rebecca leaned up against the chilly window and looked out upon the dark city. Hubert was attempting to start a conversation with the driver which was not going well. He finally gave up and turned to Rebecca.

"So where are we going?"

"Marilee Jackson's. It's a food place."

"Oh. Alright then." She watched him inch his hand towards hers and she removed it from the seat.

Hubert paid the driver after they unloaded their bags from the trunk. Various people walked down the narrow street. Rebecca presumed they were going to the theater down the street.

Inside Marilee Jackson's, it was mildly busy. Hubert merely chose a table and said he'd keep an eye on their things if she ordered him something.

"Doesn't matter. I'll eat anything." He grinned.

Rebecca pulled out her wallet and started looking at how much she had in there. While she was digging around, she ran into someone.

"Oi! Watch where…" The boy started angrily but trailed off. She looked up at a rather attractive black-haired boy about her age wearing all black and an apron. "I-um-er-uh." His eyes widened in panic as he stared at her, face going red.

"Sorry." She quickly stated before side-stepping him.

"What can I get you?" A blonde woman leaned on the counter and popped her gum.

"Two turkey sandwiches and two teas?"

"Anything else?"

"Er, no."

"Twelve then. Give me a minute and I'll have it up. DANTE! GET OVER HERE!" The boy looked up and rushed over. "You're here working off your debt to me saving your ass, not to look at girls!"

"I think he's rather taken." Hubert smirked as soon as she sat down with the food.

"Or has never seen anyone with blue hair before."

"Will you relax?"

She gave a fake grin as she tore into her sandwich.

"So where are we staying?"

"Auntie Noodle's dojo. She lives above it." She saw Dante clearing a table and hesitate as if he was listening.

"DANTE! Go home!" The blonde woman screeched through the now mostly empty café.

"Thank God." She heard the boy mutter as he threw the rag he was using over his shoulder.

"Ready to go?" Hubert asked as he polished off the rest of his sandwich.

"Yeah. I can walk and eat." She got up and slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up her guitar.

As they walked out, she spied Dante leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette.

"Kids just start younger and younger." Hubert snorted.

"Oi! Bluebird!" Dante yelled as they walked past. "Bluebird! Hey!" He ran to catch up with them.

"Excuse me?"

"Bluebird. I don't know your name. Want to throw me a line here?"

"Don't have to tell you that." She sneered as they continued walking.

"Oh come on. I'm Dante. I heard you're staying at Osaka Dojo." He flashed a grin.

"Your point?" Hubert asked, unamused.

"You're not from around here are you?"

"No."

"Well, you need someone to show you the way Bluebird?"

"No and stop calling me that." She glared at him. "Bye."

"What's your name?" He called. "Come on!"

"Does your mother know that you're out?"

"What does that have to do with anything? Come on love, what's your name? Would you rather me call you something else?"

"I'd rather you not call me anything." They turned the corner.

"You play the guitar? I play too. My father tau-"

"Look, she's not interested. Sod off." Hubert snapped.

"Just trying to be friendly. You'll find not too many people are around here." He gave a dark grin as they stopped and he stepped in front of them. "Thought you'd listen to that. Now lovey and dorky, you need someone to guide your way through the back streets. Not everyone you run into is as nice as I am."

"It's right down the street." Rebecca informed him. "I can see it from here. Goodbye." She rolled her eyes, pushed past him and continued walking.

"OI! What's your name?"

"Becca. Beeca Pot!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Becca Pot." Dante said to himself with a smile on his face as he turned around and ran into a pole. "Nrgh!"

He walked back towards the café while rubbing his cheek and looked up to see his sister on the corner.

"Where the hell were you?" Her dark eyes flashed. "I've been waiting. Mum wants us to meet her at work. Oh and Dad says stop stealing his cigarettes or he'll tell Mum."

"Shut up." He snapped at his twin. More like, how the hell did he know he nicked a few? Whatever. More interesting events had occurred that night.

"What's that look for? Oooh…you like someone don't you?" She pressed as she tossed her long, wavy black hair behind her.

"Sod off, Cassandra."

"You do." She teased as she grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I just met her."

"What's her name then?"

"Becca Pot. But, she was with another guy. They're from out of town."

"I see…Well you're shit out of luck then I guess. Let's go before Mum has kittens."


	4. Chapter 4

Blue

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz.

Hey guys, here's an update to prove I didn't forgot about this…

* * *

Rebecca led Hubert to the back alley of the building in question. She climbed the wood stairs to the apartment above the dojo. There was a soft red light coming from inside the windows due to the thin red curtains. She shivered as she set her bags down on the landing under the porch light. Hubert also put his bag down and looked at her expectantly.

Rebecca quickly knocked gently on the door. The wind chimes hanging from the light tinkled dolefully. She saw the light being blocked from the peephole in the door before hearing the various locks scrape open.

In front of her stood the thin, silk robe clad, barefoot Japanese woman. Noodle immediately swooped down upon her.

"Rebecca, what are you dong here? Does D know you're here? You aren't in some sort of trouble, are you? Come in." She moved aside and Rebecca quickly grabbed her things and walked into the warm apartment. She set her bags down and kicked off her shoes. Hubert set his belongings next to hers.

"Shoes off." She muttered at him.

"Oh. Alright." Becca looked around at the Japanese styled apartment.

"I will make some tea. Go sit." Noodle instructed.

"Yes Auntie."

Rebecca scurried over to a kotatsu set up in the middle of the living room. She was thankful to see that Noodle had the seats with backs on them.

"This. Is. Awesome." Hubert cleaned his glasses before practically bounding over to the table.

"May I ask who exactly you are?" Noodle asked as she set down the teapot and teacups.

"Auntie, this is Hubert. He is friends with James." She gave her a look that indicated she had no choice in him coming. Noodle returned the look with one that was very confused.

"So, what are you doing here?" Noodle settled in under the kotatsu.

"Well, you see-"

The cordless phone on the table rang..

"Hold on one second." Noodle picked it up. "Hai? D? Slow down. Yes, I know, she's sitting in front of me right now. Calm down, she's safe and brought a friend. No, she isn't hurt. Alright, alright, calm down. She can stay here for the night. No, I'm not bringing her up there with that recent zombie infestation at night! Fine. Yes, you can come get her in the morning. No. NO. NO! Watashi wa atode o yobidasu koto ni narimasu!" Noodle hung up.

"Um…"

"Yes, that was your father. Your mother called him a half hour ago to say you were missing."

"A half hour ago?" Hubert asked. "Seriously, it took them that long to figure out you were missing?"

"They probably thought I was at my grandparents." Rebecca looked down guiltily.

"Um, I don't want to be a bother, but may I use your bathroom?" Hubert asked.

"Yes. Down the hall to the left."

"Thanks." He stood up and hurried off.

"So," Noodle turned her attention to the blue haired girl. "What are you doing here?"

"I…um…well…I couldn't deal with it." Rebecca looked down, face red in embarrassment.

"With what?" Noodle asked. Rebecca looked up into her green eyes. Auntie had so much grace about her, from the way she walked to how she put her hair up. Oh how she envied the woman in front of her for that kind of natural grace.

"With everyone. My family. My teachers, my classmates. Everyone."

"Can you explain a little more? I mean, what is going on? It's not like you to suddenly run off and leave everyone worried."

Rebecca snorted slightly.

"Well, my step father thinks I'm a freak, my siblings are treated much better than I am by him and my step family, my teachers think I'm lying about my hair color, my classmates torment me, and I don't know." Rebecca played with the fabric of the kotatsu.

"Get up eight."

"What?"

"Fall down seven times. Get up eight."

"Huh?"

"Fall down seven times. Get up eight." Noodle repeated.

"I don't get it."

"Old Japanese proverb. Think about it." Noodle sipped her tea.

"But-"

"Just do it. Now, are you sure you're not over-exaggerating about how your siblings and family is treating you?" Noodle asked as she leaned forward on her elbows.

"They never forget the twins birthday while mine is often forgotten except by Mum, Dad, my grandparents, you and Uncle Russel. Frank makes a point of going to the pub that day and night. I often get barely in the edge of the Christmas photos when we go visit Frank's family. The only photo of me in the house is our latest family portrait and even then, Frank got wallets of just him, Mum and the twins when I went and used the loo at the studio and that's what he sent out for the Christmas photo."

Noodle muttered something in Japanese as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Does D know? What does Kathy think?"

"Mum tries to get him to accept me. She really does. But he really just thinks I'm a freak that Mum happened to give birth to. Did you know, he never legally adopted me? I don't think Dad knows and I haven't really told him. I mean, I don't want to upset him with that. Hubert is really taking a long time in the bathroom…"

"He might be reading that novel I left in there."

"Probably."

"It's a Charles Dickens."

"Yeah, he's reading it then."

"Why is he here?"

"He found out I was coming and refused to let me come by myself. It's like he thinks he's my bodyguard or something."

"That's…odd. So, what are you going to do? You need to go back home sometime. Why didn't they just call your mobile phone?"

"I turned it off." Rebecca admitted.

"Rebecca…Not a smart move."

"I know. I don't know yet. I just needed to get away for a little bit."

"You can't stay with D forever you know. The residence laws…It's going to be a huge mess. Plus, life in Kong isn't that great Rebecca. You're on constant alert for demons, spirits and zombies. I slept with swords just in case some nights."

"I'm not looking to stay forever. I just…I just…I don't know." Rebecca began to tear up. "I just can't take it anymore Auntie."

Hubert leaned against the wall in the hallway. No, he wasn't going to go interrupt this.

"I tried everything. Hair dye, hats…Our new headmaster is threatening all of us with punishment if we don't conform to school dress code. But the problem is none of us girls can because our hair won't dye or bleach. It either turns lighter blue or darker blue. Lucas is taking to shaving his head, but the fuzz and eyebrows are still blue."

"Hmm…I have no idea what to tell you, Becca-chan. Look, it's late. You can take the spare room. Your friend can have the futon. I just cleaned it today. The room that is and washed all the sheets, just in case anyone came besides my fiancé's mother."

"When are you two getting married Auntie? You've been engaged as long as I can remember. Are you even getting married at this point?"

"Yes, soon-ish."

"Please don't say April-ish."

Noodle giggled.

"Go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm sure tomorrow, you and D will have much to discuss."

Rebecca nodded.

Hubert came back out of the hall to find Noodle and Rebecca moving the kotatsu.

"You're sleeping here tonight." Noodle nodded at him as she unfolded the futon couch. She gestured to the neatly folded blankets and pillow in the corner.

"Thank you." He nodded. "I might not need all those blankets though."

"My apartment gets cold in this room, I'm warning you."

"Okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Rebecca, you know where the spare room is."

"Yes Auntie." Rebecca picked up her bag and guitar case and walked back to the room.

The room was decorated in purple and black, a few framed vinyl records of Gorillaz hung in shadow boxes around the room. She gave a faint smile as she dropped her bag and shut and locked the door behind her.

"So why are you here?" Noodle looked Hubert in the eye as he set up camp.

"I wasn't letting her come alone. I mean, something could've happened to her on the way over here. James wouldn't have let me live if that happened and he found out I knew she was coming."

"Bzzzzt. Incorrect." Noodle gave thumbs down. "Tell me the other half of the real reason. You like her don't you?"

"Erm, um, I, er…"

"Exactly." Noodle finished her tea. "It's extremely obvious."

Hubert turned scarlet.

"I-I'm going back on the train after this weekend. Just making sure she got here alright. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen."

"Are you her boyfriend?"

"No."

"Then it really isn't your place to be escorting her around the country."

"I know."

"Then why are you?"

"Because I wanted to get out of town for a few days, go on a adventure?"

"This is a family matter, not an adventure." Noodle spoke in a very serious tone. "You should go home in the morning. She arrived here safely. Her father will be by in the morning to pick her up."

Hubert for once was silent.

"Now you might want to go to bed if you're getting up and catching the train. Goodnight." She walked back to the spare room and knocked gently on the door.

"Becca-chan…open up please?"

Rebecca got up and opened the door. Noodle walked in, shut the door behind her and sat on the bed. She patted the spot next to her. Rebecca sat down.

"Is there anything else I need to know about?" Noodle asked. "Anything I can help with?" The Asian woman played with the silver sakura pendant around her neck.

"I don't know Auntie. What time is it though?"

"About eleven thirty. You need some rest after today, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Noodle nodded and walked out.

As she walked back into her own room, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

"Hey D."

"How is she?" Stu demanded.

"She's…troubled."

"Troubled? 'Bout wot then?"

"Her step-family. School. She'd had enough I suppose, she's having a bit of a rough time. I'm sure she'll explain it to you tomorrow."

Stu was silent on the other end.

"Are you sure, I can't come by tonight?"

"Very. She's in bed now. She's sleeping in my spare room."

"Wot's this then about a friend?"

"Friend of one of the boys apparently. Found out she was coming and tried to talk her out of it and ended up making sure she was safe getting here."

"He-he-he ain't her boyfriend, is he?" Stu started to sound panicky.

"No. He likes her though. That much is obvious."

"Are you POSITIVE I can't-"

"Yes D."

"Awright, awright. I'll see you in the morning then darling. Night Noodle."

"Goodnight D." Noodle hung up and crawled into bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Blue

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz.

Ps, Blue character profiles are now up on my author page thingymajig if you're curious.

* * *

Rebecca was awakened by the slamming of car doors. She sat up groggily and looked at the tiny clock on the table. The white hands read out eight in the morning. She got up, dug around in her bag and trotted off to the bathroom, clothes and toiletries in hand as she could hear someone coming up the outside stairs.

The smell of food wafted in from the kitchen. Her stomach growled as she multi-tasked by combing her hair with toothbrush in mouth. She pulled her hair back and placed the white flower clip on the right side before venturing out into the main area with her bags. Noodle was standing at the stove while Hubert still was soundly sleeping on the futon, glasses on the kotatsu.

"You could have slept in you know." Noodle spoke quietly. "D called earlier and said he'd be over around nine since Russel will be driving and he generally is getting up around now. Muds is probably still asleep. Although knowing your father, he's probably hovering around Russel and Russel is probably yelling at him, which in turn will wake up some member of the Niccals family who will wake up someone else because they get up and go investigate the source of the noise, etcetera."

"Niccals…family?"

"Yeah. You didn't know Muds had two kids?"

"No. Never met them."

"Hm. Thought you had. Dante and Cassandra. Twins. Got their mother's good looks thankfully. Dante tans green like Muds though."

"I met some kid named Dante at the cafe last night. Kept calling me bluebird and wouldn't leave us alone."

"Yes, that sounds like him. I think Muds and your father attempted to get you and your siblings acquainted a few times, but someone was always sick and it never really worked out. Was he smoking again last night?"

"Yeah."

"His mother's going to have a fit." Noodle shook her head.

Hubert groaned as he sat up.

"Mmm where am I?" He mumbled vaguely as he looked around, brown hair thoroughly disheveled.

"Morning sleepy head." Rebecca spoke a bit louder as she nicked a piece of bacon.

"Oh…yeah. Morning."

Noodle handed Rebecca a plate and she began loading it.

"So everyone lives up at Kong?" She asked as Hubert shuffled off to the bathroom.

"Yes. You haven't been around most of the building, have you? I moved out since we get incredibly sick of each other from time to time, but I'm still close by and can go up whenever but still have my own privacy with my fiancé. When they rebuilt Kong, Muds put up a section of the building for him and his family, a section for D where he can live, a place for him to ride out the migraines and some room for all of you when you're visiting and Russel designed his own area for taxidermy, experimenting with percussion and things and living. There's an apartment for me in there too. If you want, you can stay in there while you're here since we aren't recording this month."

"Oh thanks."

"You're welcome. I expect you've already been in the studio, the kitchen and other general areas of the building."

"Yes."

"I always thought it was nice for Murdoc to go all out for D, especially after the whole Plastic Beach ordeal."

"Huh?"

"Forget I said it." Noodle grinned.

"What ordeal?"

"Just Muds having a vacation from sanity and the world."

"Oh, you mean when Uncle Murdoc went insane and locked Dad in the underwater room and paid a whale to watch him constantly and built that stupid robot while under attack from Hell and the spirit world while his body deteriorated to something corpse-demon like due to his failed agreement with the Boogieman until the Evangelist came and restored order and his body and soul?"

"Er…Yeah, that."

Hubert emerged from the bathroom just as Rebecca finished eating.

Rebecca looked up from her cup of coffee as the sound of a car came from the alley.

"That will be D." Noodle got up and glanced out the window. "Yes. Well, I expect I'll see you around."

The sound of someone running up the stairs became louder before the pounding on the door.

"Door's unlocked D." Noodle called. Stuart Pot came flying through the door and nearly tackled his daughter.

"Rebecca…Fank God… Don't you be scarin me or your mum like that ever again? Got it? Thought sumfing 'ad 'appened to you. Dunno wot I would've done if tha' happened. If you 'ad been kidnapped or sumfing horrible like that!" He kissed the top of her head as he squeezed her tighter.

"Daddy, I can't breathe." She squeaked.

"Sorry." He released her and took a step back. Rebecca looked up at her father. His once shockingly blue hair was fading in color and he hadn't shaved that morning nor did it look like he had attempted to do anything to his hair. His blackened eyes had even darker rings around them. She felt a surge of guilt go through her.

"Yo." Russel stood in the doorway, his trimmed beard was shot through with grey and he twirled the keys around o n his finger. "Who's this?" He pointed at Hubert standing in the corner.

"Oh. Dad, Uncle Russ, this is Hubert. He's friends with Lucas and James."

"Hi." He gave a nervous wave.

"You ain't her boyfriend, are you?" Russel stared at him from behind sunglasses.

"N-No."

"Or Cecelia's or Chelsea's?"

"N-no sir."

"Good." Russel grunted. "Don't need none of those running around right now."

"You're in a pleasant mood today Russ." Noodle yawned.

"Yeah, well, D woke me up early and was like a damn satellite until we left." Russel grunted. "Glad you're alright though Becks."

"Hey D, Becca can sleep in my apartment at Kong. It's clean, I was just there last week." She held out the key to Stu who took it.

"You coming wif us then?" D looked over at Hubert.

"Um…"

"Well, he's got nowhere else to go unless he's heading home now his escort duties are over with." Russel shrugged.

"I don't want to be a bother."

"Nah, we got room." Russel grunted. "You're telling Muds though, D. You know how badly he freaks out when there's teenage males in the same building as Cassie."

"Awright, awright. You got everything then?" He glanced at Rebecca.

"Yes."

"You too?" Russel directed toward Hubert.

"Yes."

"Alright, let's go."

The ride up to Kong was quiet. Rebecca watched out the window at the passing farmland as they started up the hill.

"Is that a landfill?" Hubert peered out his own window.

"Yeah. Smells awful in the summer. Keeps the zombies occupied at night though."

"There's no such thing as zombies! Why is everyone saying this?"

Both 2D and Russel started laughing.

"Just wait, just wait."

"No such things as zombies…ha! Boy, you're in for a very nasty shock tonight."

"See these?" D twisted around in the seat and pulled up his shirt to reveal very ugly scars. "Zombie fightin' scars."

"D, shut the hell up, those are the scars Noodle gave you when she was sleep walking and you tried to wake her up."

"Well…erm, at least one or two of 'em are from zombie fighting!" D went red.

"No."

"Hubert, I've told you, the zombies are real."

"And I've told you, it's medically impossible! I mean-"

"Look, Herman-"

"Hubert."

"Hubert, just wait til nightfall and we'll see who's right."

Hubert laughed and shook his head.

"Hey, I will spend the night outside, just to prove you wrong."

"NO!" Rebecca squealed and covered her mouth.

"Rebecca, I promise you, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of." Hubert reassured her.

"Yes there is!" She moaned.

"Becks, if he wants to spend the night among the undead, let him." Russel snorted as he pulled into the carpark.

Rebecca glanced out the window to see the crappy, fire and smoke damaged Winnebago parked against the wall as Russel turned off the car.

"Here, I'll show you where Noodle's apartment is. YOU, 'owever, are staying…um…Russel?" Stu looked at the man from outside the vehicle.

"He could probably stay in the boys' room? I dunno."

"Erm, we need to wash the sheets and make the bed though." Stu scratched his head.

"I gotta do a load of laundry anyways. We can wash Noodle's sheets too."

"Awright. C'mon Rebecca. I'll show you the apartment and after, you and I need at have a talk." D patted her head and headed towards the lift. She grabbed her bags and trotted after him.

Russel glanced at Hubert.

"I'll show you where you're sleeping them Howard."

"Hubert."

"Whatever." He motioned for him to follow the pair to the lift and locked the car behind him.


End file.
